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SCMP Reporter

The new pay-television service, which charges $168 a month, may review its pricing policy after three months

Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, the pay-television venture between Television Broadcasts (TVB) and its United States partner  Intelsat,   may review its pricing policy in three months.

The service, also known as exTV,  began operations yesterday and is charging subscribers $168 a month for 23 channels.

The package compares with rival  Hong Kong Cable Television's  38-channel line-up for $298 a month and niche market player  Hong Kong Broadband Network's  17 channels for $88 a month.

'It is too early to say if we will adjust the pricing,' exTV chief operating officer  Jackey Chan Sek-nin said yesterday.  'But we will closely monitor the subscription progress and evaluate it after three months.'

Analysts upgraded their earnings forecast for i-Cable Communications after exTV unveiled its pricing details.

BNP Paribas Peregrine Securities'  Isabella Kwok said: 'ExTV would not threaten i-Cable in the near term ... A return of confidence [towards i-Cable] could lead to a series of upward earnings revisions and hence a re-rating.'

The brokerage has placed a target price of $3.65 on i-Cable.

HSBC analyst Anne Ling  said  exTV would drag on TVB's earnings. Together with the government's intention of allowing more players to enter the pay and free television  markets, Ms Ling said TVB shares would underperform. She has set a target price of $30 for the broadcaster.

Shares of i-Cable yesterday closed up  0.79 per cent  at  $3.175, while TVB rose 0.5  per cent  to $40.

Mr Chan said exTV's network  covered 250,000 households, or 12.5 per cent  of the total.

The firm is in talks with property developers such as Sun Hung Kai Properties and Wharf (Holdings) - the parent of i-Cable - to pre-install communal aerial broadcast distribution (CABD) networks in buildings before they are launched on to the market.

'The CABD system won't clash with existing i-Cable systems,' Mr Chan said. 'I don't think there will be a problem to access Wharf's buildings. It's up to the terms we are offering them.'

The broadcaster is also in talks with the Housing Authority to install the system in public housing estates.

It hopes to expand network coverage to 400,000 households in the first half of the year and sign up 70,000 to 80,000 customers by the end of the year.

According to a study  released by  Taylor Nelson Sofres yesterday, only 7 per cent of interviewees said they were 'quite' or 'very' interested in subscribing to exTV in the next 12 months, while a further 18 per cent were 'slightly' interested.



Galaxy considers adjustments to subscription fees